Cowards
by Ellsweetella
Summary: He chooses to leave. Maleval, one shot.


_Prompt by maleval-hell-yeahval: After years of remaining by Maleficent's side a heartbroken and tired Diaval takes Maleficent up on his offer of freedom and leaves her in hopes of finding someone to love half as much as he loves the supposedly non-love-returning Maleficent. _

_Song inspiration: Best of You_

Maleficent gave Diaval things he'd never imagined he would have. He was given a new heart that felt too much and a new brain that thought too deeply. He was given the ability to love someone with all his being. He was given so much, yet nothing at all.

He, a coward, was in love with another coward.

Loving someone who did not love you back was tiring. So very tiring.

He didn't know what exactly they were. Mistress and servant? She treated him much more like a friend.

Friends? Would friends smile at each other in such an intimate way? Lovers? And yet, they hadn't crossed that line.

They were at the painful grey line between the two relationships. One that he had grown to hate.

He was utterly confused by Maleficent. At times, she seemed to enjoy his company, giving him that special smile he'd only see her give him. Yet, there are times, way often than not, when she would treat him like a stranger.

He was her fool. He was there for her to tease, to use, to rely on. He was there for her to throw, to abandon, to be left behind.

It was selfish of him but was it wrong to yearn to be loved? Was it wrong of him to want someone to love him half as much as he loved Maleficent?

Even Aurora needed that. Even Aurora wanted someone to love her half as much as she had loved Phillip.

Diaval watched how Aurora sobbed silently in the dead of night, her shoulders heaving up and down as she gasped for air, tears running down her once rosy cheeks.

She loved Phillip so very much but it seemed that he was incapable of such depth. He was more concerned about his kingdom and himself more than Aurora.

The pain Aurora showed at night was a eerie reflection of the turmoil he felt inside.

And Diaval knew what he had to do.

For Maleficent and for himself.

He had to set both of them free.

He had to break these heavy chains.

...

Diaval could not find the courage bring the topic up. Thankfully, it was Maleficent herself who brought it up herself.

She had just returned from a long, private flight. There was an emptiness in her eyes that scared him.

"Diaval," she called for him and he flew to her.

With a simple wave of her hand, her magic coursed through his veins and turned him into a human once more.

"You have been by my side for 20 years now." It was a statement.

"Yes, mistress."

"You have served me well." He thought he heard a form of wistfulness in her voice.

He remained silent.

"You are no longer in my debt, dear raven. You are free to go," her voice was cold, only a trickle of warmth and sadness inside of it.

"Is that what you want?" He could not help but ask.

She hesitated.

"Yes," it came out as a whisper. "Yes," It was stronger now, filled with determination.

His heart sunk. He was foolish enough to hope that her answer would be different. He was foolish enough to hope that she had wanted him.

"Very well. I'm no longer in your servitude, Maleficent," his words held a bitter quality.

Her name, which from his mouth, could have sounded sweet, filled with love and hopes for the future was now bitter and dead.

She nodded stiffly. "You will have the free will to shift between a raven and a human. It is a parting gift from me to you."

"Thank you."

She opened her mouth and shut it again.

"Farewell, Diaval," she said, almost gentle.

"Goodbye Maleficent," his was barely audible and he shifted into a raven, flying off into the forest.

He was afraid that once he stayed for another moment, he could not bear to leave.

...

Maleficent wondered if Diaval had found his mate.

It had been weeks since she had last seen him and she had... She had missed him.

He was such an essential part of her life. He was her wings. He was her partner. He was her friend. He was her...

He was important to her, that was all.

She could not love him, no. She had unbreakable iron chains wound around her heart, preventing her from loving a man (or a raven) again.

She came across him one day, when she was visiting the human village.

"Diaval," she greeted him, knowing that she could not hide from him.

He chose to remain a human and she wondered why. He loved being a bird. She knew that like her, he loved to fly. He loved the wind against his skin as he soar up above the clouds.

So why would he chain himself to the ground?

Once she saw the girl next to her, she understood.

He had traded his wings for love.

"Maleficent," he greeted her with a small smile. A smile she wished she could return.

"And this...?" She looked at the girl.

The girl was around 20, young and pretty. She had brown eyes the shade of earth, exuding warmth. Her hair, the same shade of brown, seemed to glisten in the sunlight. She had no idea how it could happen but it did. She was a ball of warmth and sunshine.

She looked so much like Maleficent but at the same time, she was a polar opposite.

Whilst Maleficent was made of ice, the girl was made of fire.

"She is Kailla, my..." Diaval trailed off.

The girl-Kailla-waved at her with a huge smile.

"Nice to meet you!" Kailla was enthusiastic.

"Nice to meet you."

"We are going to the market. Would you like to join us?" Kailla offered.

"No, it's ok. I'd rather not intrude," Maleficent gently rejected her offer.

There was a flicker of disappointment over Kailla's face before it returned to the smile she always wore.

They bid each other farewell before they went on their separate ways.

Maleficent could not run from the blatant truth.

She was jealous.

She wondered if Kailla got the best of Diaval.

She wondered if Diaval smiled at Kailla the way he smiled at her.

She wondered if Diaval held her hands like the way he used to hold hers.

She wondered if Diaval loved her.

She wondered if Kailla loved Diaval.

She wondered.

...

Diaval had another confession to make.

He still loved Maleficent, so very much.

He tried to find someone who loved him half as much as he loved Maleficent.

And he had found one. He had found a girl who loved him, who loved him with all her heart. But he did not love her.

And so he had to leave. He could not hurt her the way Maleficent had hurt him.

Maleficent.

His dearest Maleficent.

Was someone getting the best of her?

Or was she as lonely as he was?


End file.
